Grade wire support



Sept. 19, 1967 J. CURLETT ETAL GRADE WIRE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 29, 1965 INVENTOR mm T R R T TUD N EGO E L .R 6 RA A U H co 6 N TT O R N my AL A OV Sept 19,1967

Filed March 29, 1965 J.CURLETT ETAL GRADE WIRE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR JOHN CURLETT RAYMOND A.GURHES ALBERT H.RODRmUEZ PATENT AGENTUnited States Patent 3,342,446 GRADE WIRE SUTPPGRT John Curlett, LasGatos, Raymond A. Gurries, San Jose,

and Albert H. Rodriguez, Cupcrtino, Calif, assignors to GurriesManufacturing Co., San Jose, Calif, a corporation of California FiledMar. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 443,253 8 Claims. (El. 248-221) This inventionrelates to a grade-wire support and more particularly to a wire hangerused in connection with leveling control systems for road buildingmachines.

Leveling control systems for road building machines have been developedwhich sense an external reference in the form of a grade-wire stretchedalong the side of and parallel to a road under construction forregulating the vertical position of the working implement of the roadbuilding machine, a typical example being disclosed in the patent ofRaymond A. Gurries et al., Patent No. 3,155,020, dated Nov. 3, 1964.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved wirehanger for supporting a grade-wire used for leveling control of roadbuilding machines.

A feature of the invention is to provide a wire hanger which iseconomical to manufacture.

A further feature of the invention is to provide a wire hanger which maybereadily aligned to support a gradewire in a precise position.

An additional feature of the invention is to provide a wire-hangerhaving means for supporting a line extending transversely to thegrade-wire.

Still another feature of the invention is to provide a wire-hanger incombination with a data tag for indicating the necessary station number,slopes and any other necessary information at a given roadway section.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description, reference being made to the annexeddrawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a wire hanger embodying the presentinvention mounted upon a stake and supporting a grade-wire,

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the wire hanger shown in FIG. 1,

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation view of the wire hanger shown in FIG. 1,

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the wire hanger shown in FIG. 1,

FIGURE 5 is a front elevation view of a data card which fits on the wirehanger as shown in FIG. 1,

FIGURE 6 is a partial top plan view of a modified form of wire hanger,

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation view of the modified form of wire hangershown in FIG. 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a transverse roadway sectional view illustrating a lineextended between opposed wire hangers for establishing transverseroadway slope due to superelevation, crown or drainage.

With reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a stake 10 which may bemade of steel having a circular cross section and is adapted to bedriven into the ground in a vertical position adjacent one side of aroadway. A wire hanger 12 is mounted on the stake 10 generally toproject inwardly toward the roadway. With additional reference to FIGS.2, 3 and 4, the wire hanger 12 includes a boss 14 at one end with anopening 16 which is dimensioned for sliding engagement about the stake10. An end boss 18 projects laterally from the boss 14 and includes athreaded hole 20 adapted to accommodate a threaded set screw 22. Acontact face 24 is provided at one end of the set screw which projectsinto the opening 16 for releasable engagement with the stake 10 and ahexagonal head 26 is provided at the opposite end of the set screw. Apair of projections 28 and 30 extend inwardly into the stakereceivingopening 16 diametrically opposite the threaded hole 20 but at positionsabove and below the opening to form vertically-aligned stake contactfaces 34 and 36. Upon tightening the set screw, the stake 10 is firmlygripped between the contact face 24 of the set screw 22 and the contactfaces 34 and 36, thus securing the wire hanger 12 in place upon thestake 10, as shown in FIG. 1. Since the contact faces 34 and 36 arevertically aligned, the wire hanger 12 is positioned automatically inperpendicular relation to the stake 10 when the set screw 22 istightened. Since the stake opening 16 is formed with the projections 28and 30, the Wire hanger 12 may be cast from a metal such as aluminum andno expensive boring or machining is required.

The main body portion of the wire hanger 12 constitutes a support arm 38which projects laterally from the boss 14 opposite the end boss 18. Thesupport arm includes a web section 40 which joins horizontal flange 42and a lower angular flange 44, and varies in depth from a maximumadjacent the boss 14 to a minimum located outwardly on the support arm.Both flanges 42 and 44 also decrease in width toward the unsupportedouter end of the arm 38. The extremity of the support arm 38 is enlargedto provide a fork-spreading plate 54 having vertically-opposed concavesurfaces which allow a control fork as shown at 7! in FIG. 1 to passthereover. A diagonally-extending slot 56 is formed in the forkspreading plate 54 so that a grade-Wire may be passed therethrough intoa communicating short wire-retaining slot 50. As shown best in FIG. 3,the upper surface of the upper horizontal flange 42 is aligned inelevation with the centerline of the wire-retaining slot 5t and thus theslot can be positioned at a required elevation by setting the uppersurface of the wire hanger flange 42 at the elevation desired. Anintegral transverse-line support hook 62 projects upwardly from theupper surface of the upper horizontal flange 42 so as to support a lineextending transversely of the roadway, as shown in FIG. 8, and for afunction which will be described more fully hereinafter.

A grading data tag 64, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, preferably made offlexible plastic sheet material is formed with a vertical slot 66 and anadjacent elongated horizontal slot 68 which are adapted to interfit withthe web section 40 and the lower angular flange 44 of the support arm38. As shown in FIG. 1, the grading data tag 64 is suspended from thewire hanger 12 near the boss 14 and grading data information may bemarked on the tag to indicate the necessary cuts, fills and slopes atthe specific roadway section. For removal, the tag 64 is moved outwardlyalong the flange 44 until the reduced dimensions of the flange becomesless than the width of the vertical slot 66. For attachment of the tag64, the process is reversed; the tag is placed over the flange 44 at itsouter reduced dimension end and is then slipped inwardly until it iswedged on the flange adjacent its inner end, as shown in FIG. 1.

In operation, the stake 10 is driven into the ground in a verticaldisposition and the wire hanger 12 is positioned thereon. A level rodmay be placed upon the upper surface 58 of the wire hanger 12 and alevel reading can be taken. The wire hanger is then moved up or down sothat the desired rod reading can be obtained. At this point, thewire-retaining slot 50 is automatically positioned at the desired leveland the wire hanger is locked in position by aligned contact faces 34and 36 and the contact face 24 of the set screw so that the support arm38 extends outwardly in the desired and assured perpendicularrelationship.

A grade-wire 52 is inserted through the diagonally extending slot 56into the wire-retaining slot 50 of each of a plurality of wire hangers12 spaced along a roadway under construction. The grading data at theparticular roadway section is marked on the tag 64. As shown in FIG. 1,a wire fork 70 engages the grade-wire to control the level of theworking implement of a road building machine, as explained in detail inthe mentioned patent, Patent No. 3,155,020. When the wire fork 70reaches a wire hanger 12, the fork is spread apart by the forkspreadingplate 54 and thus passes about the support arm 38 without interference.

Alternate structures embodying the present invention can be readilyvisualized. One such alternate includes a modified end portion 84 of awire hanger 12' as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A short wire-retaining slot59' is provided in the end portion 84 and a diagonal slot 86 extendsupwardly therefrom on a skew thereto. The upper surface 58' of thesupport arm 38 is located to coincide in eleva tion with the centerlineof the short slot 50' and a solid fork-spreading plate 54 is locatedoutwardly therefrom. A grade-wire 52, as shown in FIG. 1, may beinserted into the short slot 50 by twisting slightly and forcingdownward through the diagonal slot 86. Upon releasing the grade-wirewithin the short slot 50, the wire Will align itself with the short slotand thereby be interlocked within. A transverse line support hook 62',similar to that shown at the end portion 48 of the previously describedWire hanger 12, may be provided for supporting a transverse line. Sincethe fork-spreading plate 54 is a solid member enclosing the short slotin an outwardly direction, a transverse line could also be inserted intothe short slot and retained therein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an additional function of the gradewire supportswhich may be used to check grade transversely of the roadway. Stakes 10are positioned at opposite sides of a roadway and Wire hangers 12 aresecured thereon. A line 7 8 is then stretched between the transverseline support hooks 62 on each Wire hanger. The adaptation of transverseroadway alignment for three different roadway sections is shown. Thefirst section is illustrated by the line 72 and represents a commontriangular crown. A line 74 represents a roadway section having aparabolic crown while the line 76 represents a roadway section havingsuperelevation. The line 78 extending between opposite wire hangers islevel and may be used to check the transverse grade a roadway sectionhaving a common triangular crown, a parabolic crown, or superelevationby relatively simple but accurate measurement.

It will be understood that further modifications and/or Variations ofthe embodiments of the grade-wide support disclosed herein may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and theforegoing description is to be considered as purely exemplary and not inthe limiting sense; the scope of the invention being indicated byreference to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A support for a grade-wire adapted to be extended along the path ofmovement of a road building machine so that the grade-wire may beengaged by a wire fork mounted to said road building machine, saidsupport comprising:

a vertical stake and a wire hanger having one end portion thereofadjustably connected to said stake, the other end portion of said wirehanger including a short slot adapted to support and retain the'gradewire and an intermediate portion linking each end portion and having alevel upper surface aligned at an elevation the same as that of theshort slot so as to coincide with the elevation of a supportedgrade-wire.

2. A support for a grade-wire according to claim 1 wherein the other endportion of said wire hanger has a l diagonally positioned slot incommunication with said short slot and projecting upwardly therefrom.

3. A support for a grade-wire adapted to be extended along the path ofmovement of a road building machine so that the grade-wire may beengaged by a wire fork mounted to said road building machine, saidsupport comprising:

a vertical stake and a Wire hanger having one end portion thereofadjustably connected to said stake, the other end portion of said wirehanger having a short slot in which the grade-wire is adapted to besupported and retained and a hook member aligned transversely with thegrade-wire slot and adapted to support at substantially an equalelevation a line extending perpendicular thereto.

4. An indicating support for a grade-wire adapted to be extended alongthe path of movement of a road building machine so that the grade-wiremay be engaged by a wire fork mounted to said road building machine,said support comprising in combination:

a stake,

a wire hanger including a boss with a stake opening dimensioned forsliding engagement about said stake, means for adjustably connectingsaid boss to said stake, an arm extending outwardly from said boss to anend portion having a short slot in which the grade-wire is'adapted to besupported and retained, said arm having a web section which varies indepth from a minimum at the end portion to a maximum adjacent the bossand a longitudinally tapering flange projecting outwardly from said websection so as to provide greater stiffness and a grading data taginterfitted about said flange and web section and upon which informationcan be marked to indicate station numbers, cuts, fills and slopesremovable by longitudinal motion along said tapered flange.

5. A support for a grade-wire adapted to be extended along the path ofmovement of a road building machine which support comprises:

an arm means supporting said arm in a laterally projecting dispositionwith the upper surface thereof defining a predetermined plane and meansforming a wire-retaining slot in said arm with its center in thepredetermined plane.

6. A support for a grade-wire according to claim 5 which comprises:

a hook formed on said arm adjacent said upper surface thereof.

7. An indicating support for a grade-wire adapted to be extended alongthe path of movement of a road build ing machine which support comprisesin combination:

an arm,

means for holding a grade-wire at one position on said arm,

said arm having a longitudinally tapered flange, and

a data tag having a slot arranged .to interfit about said flange at apredetermined longitudinal position thereof and being removable bylongitudinal motion therealong.

8. A support for a grade-wire adapted to be extended along the path ofmovement of a road building machine so that the grade-wire may beengaged by a wire fork 6 mounted to said road building machine, saidsupport coman upper surface portion aligned to coincide prising: inelevation with the grade-wire slot.

a stake, a wire hanger including References Cited a boss with atstgkeopeiingkdimension for sliding 5 U T D STATES PA N engagemen a Out-Salsta e,

2,855,169 10/1958 Hmtz 248221 X zi i f g connectmg said boss to Sald2,864,452 12/1958 Guntert 94-46 X an arm extending outwardly from saidboss to an 3155'020 11/1964 Gurnes 94" 39 end portion having a shortslot in which the 10 gtadewire is adapted to be supported and CHARLES E.OCONNELL, Prlmary Exammer. tained,

NILE C. BYERS, Assistant Examiner. said arm having

1. A SUPPORT FOR A GRADE-WIRE ADAPTED TO BE EXTENDED ALONG THE PATH OFMOVEMENT OF A ROAD BUILDING MACHINE SO THAT THE GRADE-WIRE MAY BEENGAGED BY A WIRE FORK MOUNTED TO SAID ROAD BUILDING MACHINE, SAIDSUPPORT COMPRISING: A VERTICAL STAKE AND A WIRE HANGER HAVING ONE ENDPORTION THEREOF ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TO SAID STAKE, THE OTHER PORTION OFSAID WIRE HANGER INCLUDING A SHORT SLOT ADAPTED TO SUPPORT AND RETAINTHE GRADE WIRE AND AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION LINKING EACH END PORTION ANDHAVING A LEVEL UPPER SURFACE ALIGNED AT AN ELEVATION THE SAME AS THAT OFTHE SHORT SLOT SO AS TO COINCIDE WITH THE ELEVATION OF A SUPPORTEDGRADE-WIRE.